


We Found A Way

by with_beauty



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), Mad Max: Fury Road
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene, Podfic Welcome, What happened between "My name is Max" and the return to the Citadel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 17:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4400246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/with_beauty/pseuds/with_beauty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Furiosa remembers feeling like she was drowning, unable to take a breath. She remembers an indistinct scrabble above her, hearing what may have been an apology, and then a searing pain in her left side, followed by the sudden renewed ability to breathe. She remembers knowing that it was too late, that she was too close to death already. She had been ready; whether for Valhalla or the Green Place, she wasn’t sure. But she had been prepared to die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Found A Way

**Author's Note:**

> This is for everyone asking for a missing-scene fic for that time jump at the end of the movie. I couldn't resist

The first thing she feels when she wakes is two large hands on either side of her face.

Her good eye flies open, her muscles tensing for a fight, before she remembers that Immortan is dead, by her own hands, and that she’s lying in the back of the Gigahorse.

The Fool’s face comes into focus above her, and he let’s out a murmured “Hey,” that’s half concern and half relief. She realizes that it’s his hands that are cradling her head. He moves one of them to stroke her hairline.

“Furiosa!!”

All at once, the quiet is broken, the Wives realizing that she is now awake. Capable flings herself halfway over the seat to reach her, with the rest of the women following suit. For half a second, Furiosa is afraid that they’ll all try to hug her, but they simply kneel around her, their hands fluttering over her head and arms. Cheedo and Capable both have tears streaming down their faces, and Toast is smiling fit to burst. The Dag leans up to plant a firm but tender kiss on her forehead.

The Fool has launched himself into the back corner of the Gigahorse to escape the women. She has to peer around Cheedo’s body to see his face, but their eyes meet immediately. He looks pale and winded, his eyes still filled with concern. She nods once to let him know that she’s all right.

His eyes flick down to his right arm, and it’s then that she notices the tubing being held in place there by Piper’s hands. She follows the tube, red with the Max’s blood, as it snakes along the floor of the car, over her legs, and disappears under the Dag’s fingers into her arm.

She gasps and lurches slightly, causing all of the Wives to follow her eyes toward the tubing. Capable puts a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

“N-no,” Furiosa rasps, locking eyes with Fool again. “Y-you ... don’t have to...”

He shakes his head fiercely and gestures between them with his free hand. “’M ... giving it to you.”

Furiosa can’t summon the energy to resist him and let’s herself fall limp again. The car floods with relief.

Capable leans close to Furiosa’s ear, her eyes flicking over to the man seated in the corner. He’s let his head loll against the wall behind him.

“Do you remember anything after he pushed that knife in you?” she whispers.

Furiosa remembers feeling like she was drowning, unable to take a breath. She remembers an indistinct scrabble above her, hearing what may have been an apology, and then a searing pain in her left side, followed by the sudden renewed ability to breathe. She remembers knowing that it was too late, that she was too close to death already. She had been ready; whether for Valhalla or the Green Place, she wasn’t sure. But she had been prepared to die.

She licks her lips, gathering the energy to speak. “I told Fool to bring you home.” Her body attempts a cough, but the pain is too much and she quickly suppresses it. “After that, nothing.”

Cheedo leans in, having heard the exchange. “We were so scared you would die, Furiosa.” She glances over at Fool as well. “He pulled out his tubes and needles and had Piper and Dag hook you two together. He looked just as frightened as we were.”

Both women pause for a moment, looking around at the other Wives, who seem to have been listening as well. Toast frowns down at Furiosa.

“He told you his name,” she says.

“His ... name?” Furiosa croaks.

They all nod as one.

“Max,” the Dag murmurs.

The man’s head jerks up, alerted by his own name. His eyes remain unfocused for a long second before he seems to realize that the women before him were the ones that spoke. He scrubs at his hair uncomfortably.

The Wives politely avert their gazes, and Capable leans in again.

“He held you the entire time you were unconscious,” she whispers. “He wouldn’t let you go, even though it’s been an hour at least.”

Furiosa hadn’t even thought to look out the Gigahorse’s windows, but she does now. Capable is right, the sun has already set. The stars have begun to appear over the dunes as the car drives west toward the horizon. She looks back at the tube of blood being held into her arm.

“An hour?”

Capable nods.

She struggles to leverage herself into a sitting position. The Fool, or Max, she supposes, jolts again and reaches out a hand towards her.

“Max,” she says. The hand jerks to a stop. His eyes are impossibly wide. She realizes what this must have cost him, to give again a part of him that had been stolen by the Immortan, and to offer up his last secret possession.

“Max, take out the needle,” she commands. She can see his mouth work like he’s about to protest. “You’ll kill yourself.”

Piper speaks up from behind Max’s shoulder. “She’s right, you know,” she says. “You’ll drain yourself out to fill her up.”

For another second, he looks like he’ll still protest. Then he looks into Furiosa’s eyes, and his shoulders slump. He nods.

When the Dag pulls the needle from her arm, Furiosa heaves herself forward until she’s sitting fully upright. She gently rests her hand in Max’s still-upturned palm.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

Max’s face tightens and his fingers grip hers for a brief moment before he lets go and ducks his head.

There’s a long, still pause before Addison interrupts from the front seat.

“Engine’s running a little hot. Think we have some time to stop and let it cool.” She glances over her shoulder. “Now that you’re up, you should get some water in you. _Both_ of you.”

Furiosa lets her hand slide slowly out of Max’s as she goes to reach for the canteen Addison holds out. As she leans over, though, her sides scream in protest, and she grunts in pain, hunching over herself. In an instant, Max’s arms are around her shoulders, supporting her and guiding her back onto the floor of the car as it rolls to a stop.

“Too much, too soon,” Piper tuts. She ushers the Wives out onto the sand, presumably to give Furiosa more room to stretch out.

Max retrieves the canteen and lifts Furiosa’s shoulders slightly, so he can slip behind her. He rests her head against his chest and cradles her body with his knees. As he arranges himself around her, she expects to feel uncomfortable. She hasn’t let anyone this close to her in a very long time.

She’s surprised to find that she feels _comforted_ instead. Max’s chest feels solid and warm, his breathing setting a soothing rhythm. She lets her head tip back against his neck, feeling the vibrations as he hums and nudges the canteen into her hands. His hand steadies hers as she lifts the water to her mouth and drinks deeply. After just a sip, though, he pulls her hands back down.

“Careful,” he murmurs against the side of her head. She nods and lets him drink before reaching for the canteen again.

“Greedy.” She can hear the humor in his voice.

“I’m thirsty,” she retorts.

He helps her take a couple more sips, then sets the canteen to the side.

“Enough for now.”

Furiosa nods again and tries not to yawn. She feels like she could sleep for years. She shifts her shoulders against Max to get into a more comfortable position.

“Sleep,” he whispers.

 

When she wakes for the second time, the sun is just rising and the Gigahorse is moving once again. She shifts to see if all of the Wives are accounted for, and Max catches at her elbow to stop her from leaning too far.

Sometime during the night, someone had covered the two of them with a soft, warm blanket. Furiosa has the urge burrow farther under it, to extend the strange sensation of comfort she’s feeling. As she’s considering doing just that, Toast turns around in her seat, apparently wide awake.

“We’re getting close to the Citadel,” she says. “Should be there by midmorning.”

The rest of the Wives gather on the backseat, alerted to the fact that Furiosa is awake again.

“We don’t know what we should do when we get back,” Capable speaks up. “We thought about maybe propping Joe back up in the front seat so we don’t look too suspicious at first.”

Furiosa is startled. “You still have Joe?”

The Dag nods and sneers. “Smeg’s out on the back platform.”

Furiosa feels stunned, but she can feel Max nod thoughtfully behind her. She turns her head to look up at him.

“Don’t put him behind the wheel. Too hard to drive,” he instructs. He stays silent for a minute. “Tie him to the front ... cover him ... reveal him when we get there.”

Capable looks equally appalled and interested. Cheedo’s eyes widen in fright, and Toast and the Dag wear matching smug expressions. Furiosa contemplates the idea for a moment.

“Effective,” she says finally.

Piper slows the Gigahorse to a stop. The Wives jump out to retrieve the Immortan’s body, and Max gently supports her back so that he can slide out to help them.

As she lies on the floor, she finds that she’s glad that she won’t be able to see the body once they’ve covered it on the hood of the car. She doesn’t regret killing Joe, not in the slightest, but she’s not sure she if she could ever look at his face again. She already knows it will haunt her nightmares.

Soon, the Wives and Max are climbing back into the car. Max opens up the driver’s door and nods to Piper.

“Mm, I’ll drive.”

The woman shrugs and climbs into the back. “Suit yourself, sonny.”

Furiosa pushes herself into a sitting position.

“Help me to the front,” she tells Piper. The woman narrows her eyes. “I should be up front when we get there.”

“She should,” Toast says.

“Feels right,” the Dag pipes in.

Piper shakes her head at them, but helps Furiosa clamber over the seat backs anyways. She settles her next to Max, directly behind Immortan’s sheet-wrapped body.

Already worn out from the minimal movement, Furiosa lets her head drift onto Max’s shoulder as he starts the Gigahorse back up. From this angle, she can see the rock towers of the Citadel ahead of them. She feels flooded with emotions, anxiety and anticipation and fear and exhaustion mixing together until she feels dizzy.

She closes her eyes and lets the roar of the engine and the heat radiating through Max’s jacket soothe her. Only when she feels the vibrations from the wheels change from loose sand to hard-packed dirt does she open them again. The Citadel looms around the car, both familiar and strange now with the Immortan and his army dead.

“You’re home,” Max whispers briefly, and Furiosa thinks she believes him.

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from "Violent Shiver" by Benjamin Booker, which is coincidentally included in a Furiosa playlist I made a while back (http://8tracks.com/withbeauty/she-s-gone-rogue)


End file.
